Place of the Fountain

An open space on the topmost level of Minas Tirith, standing before the doors of the White Tower, which loomed above the Place of the Fountain by some ninety metres (or three hundred feet). Also called the Court of the Fountain, this space was paved with white stone, except for a green lawn in its centre that contained a pool and playing fountain. This courtyard lay before the seat of the Kings and Stewards of Gondor, and the Place of the Fountain was patrolled by the Guards of the Citadel, liveried in black and silver, and bearing winged helmets.

In earlier times, the lawn beside fountain pool had been the place where the White Tree of Minas Tirith grew, though by the time of the War of the Ring that White Tree was long dead. With no new sapling to replace it, the withered remains of the old tree, a precious symbol to the Dúnedain, had been left standing as the stark Dead Tree. After the War of the Ring and the accession of King Elessar, nearly a hundred and fifty years after the old White Tree had died, a new seedling was found. It was planted beside the pool in the Place of the Fountain, re-establishing a tradition that dated back to the founding of the realm.